The Great Race of the Zodiac (Campfire Story)

Long, long ago, the Jade Emperor, ruler of Heaven, decided that people needed a better way to keep track of the years. 'I'll name each year after an animal,' he said. 'There will be twelve of them. And to choose the twelve, we'll have a race!'

He sent out the announcement to every animal on Earth. 'Tomorrow morning, there will be a great race across the river to my palace. The first twelve animals to reach the other side will each have a year named after them.'

Now, the Cat and the RAT were best friends in those days. Neither of them could swim very well, and both of them liked to sleep late. 'Wake me up in the morning, will you?' said the Cat. 'Of course,' said the RAT.

The next morning, the RAT got up early. He looked at the Cat, curled up and snoring. And he thought about how much easier it would be to win with one less animal in the race. So he tiptoed away, and he didn't wake the Cat.

At the riverbank, all the animals lined up. Bang! went the starting gong, and in they plunged. The RAT couldn't swim across that big river. But he saw the OX, big and strong and steady, wading in. 'Ox!' he called. 'Can I ride on your head? I'll sing to you to keep you going!' The kind old OX said yes.

So across the river went the OX, plodding along, with the RAT riding on top of his head, singing. And just as the OX stepped onto the far bank, the RAT leapt off his nose and scampered over the finish line. First! The Year of the RAT! And the OX came second.

Next came the TIGER, soaking wet and tired from fighting the strong current. Third!

Then came the RABBIT, who couldn't swim at all. She'd hopped across on stepping stones, and then jumped onto a floating log, and drifted to shore. Fourth!

Everybody expected the DRAGON to win, because the DRAGON could fly. But he came in fifth. 'Why so slow?' asked the Jade Emperor. 'I stopped to make rain for a village whose crops were drying up,' said the DRAGON. 'And then I saw a little rabbit on a log, and blew a puff of wind to push her to shore.' The Jade Emperor smiled.

Then came the sound of hooves. The HORSE was galloping for the line. But hidden, coiled around the HORSE's hoof, was the SNAKE, who slithered out at the last second and scared the HORSE so badly that he reared back. So the SNAKE came sixth, and the HORSE came seventh.

Next, out on the river, came a little raft. On it were the GOAT, the MONKEY and the ROOSTER, who had worked together. The ROOSTER found the raft, the MONKEY and the GOAT cleared away the weeds and pushed. The Jade Emperor was so pleased with their teamwork that he gave them the next three places: the GOAT eighth, the MONKEY ninth, and the ROOSTER tenth.

Then the DOG came paddling up. The DOG was the best swimmer of all of them. But the water was so nice, he'd spent the whole morning splashing around and playing. Eleventh!

The sun was going down when the last animal came in. It was the PIG. Halfway through the race, the PIG had stopped for a big lunch, and then a nap, and then he'd finally waddled over the line. Twelfth! The race was done.

And the Cat? The Cat woke up at noon, realized what had happened, and raced to the river. But it was much too late. All twelve places were gone.

And that's why, ever since, the Cat chases the Rat. And why the Cat still hates water.

Storyteller tips: this works best with twelve groups, or twelve Scouts each playing an animal. Afterward, find out everyone's animal. Starting from the Rat, the years go in race order: 2008 Rat, 2009 Ox, 2010 Tiger, 2011 Rabbit, 2012 Dragon, 2013 Snake, 2014 Horse, 2015 Goat, 2016 Monkey, 2017 Rooster, 2018 Dog, 2019 Pig, and the cycle repeats every twelve years (2020 Rat, 2026 Horse). The new year starts in late January or February, so January birthdays usually belong to the year before.